Campers
by Wildfire2
Summary: The Ronin's go out for a weekend of camping, but when they try for a race, Ryo and Rowen find them selfs lost. Finshed
1. Default Chapter

OK I do not own the Ronin Warriors I did NOT invent them and   
PLESE  
do Not Sue me I am only burrowing them  
  
"Campers" is a sorta prequel to "Talpa has a Sister" 


	2. Campers

"Campers"  
By Wildfire   
  
Cye was in his room reading a book his mom had wanted him to read. He heard the doorbell ring; his mom was asleep and his sister was out, so he was the only one able to answer the door. Cye sighed, then closed his book, then headed downstairs; he opened the door and was surprised to see Sage standing there.   
  
"Oh, hey, Sage, what's up?" Cye stepped out of Sage's way as Sage walked in.   
  
"Well, I was talking with Rowen, and we were thinking for spring break... why don't we go camping?" Sage said, smiling.   
  
"Camping?" Cye thought for a second. "Sure; did Ryo and Kento say they're going?"   
  
"Haven't asked them yet; Rowen went to ask Ryo, and we are now going to go over to Kento's to ask him!" Sage started to pull Cye out the door.   
  
Cye pulled his hand back. "Hold on a second, would you? I have to write my mom a note." Sage waited impatiently while Cye wrote his mom the note. As soon as he finished the note, Sage grabbed his wrist and yanked him out the door.   
  
Cye let him pull him down the street before he pulled his arm away from Sage's grip. "Geez, man, what's the hurry?" Cye said, trying to keep up with Sage's pace.   
  
"I made a bet with Rowen that I could get to Kento's house before he could. So, hurry up!" Sage walked a little faster; Cye had to almost run to keep up with him.   
  
Sage smiled when he sw Kento's house, then he frowned as he saw Rowen running on the other side of the street. Ryo was behind him; he heard Rowen yell, and they both started to run faster. Sage again grabbed Cye's wrist and started to run.   
  
As Rowen started across the street, he failed to notice the car coming in the distance. Rowen was able to jump out of the way, but Ryo wasn't able to in time. The car slammed on its brakes and Ryo landed on the road with a thump.   
  
Sage and Cye both froze. "OH, SHIT! RYO!" Sage yelled as he ran towards Ryo and the car; Cye was right behind him. Rowen was the first to get to Ryo's side. The owner of the car got out of his car.   
  
"Oh, man, he came out of nowhere! I swear I didn't see him!! Should I call 119; I have a cell!" the man screamed and looked around, trying to look at anything BUT Ryo.   
  
Sage skidded down on his knees to Ryo as Cye stood behind them. Rowen looked at him. "Ryo, are you okay?"   
  
Ryo groaned a little, then slowly sat up. "Yeah, I'm fine." Ryo looked at the man that was literally freaking out. "DUDE, I said I'm fine, relax!"   
  
Sage looked Ryo over; he was scraped up from where he had skidded against the road, but he was pretty much okay. "Ryo, do you hurt anywhere?" Sage helped him sit up a little more.   
  
"Well, my head hurts, but then again it usually does when it gets banged against solid stone!" Ryo said, rubbing his head.   
  
"Can you stand?" Rowen asked him.   
  
"I think so." Ryo started to stand with Cye's help. Ryo then immediately fell when he put his weight on his right foot. "Shit." Rowen held him up.   
  
The guy that was driving the car started to panic all over again. "Oh, man, he's hurt, isn't he!! Oh, please don't sue me! I really can't afford it."   
  
Ryo looked at him irritably. "I AM not going to sue YOU!" He then sighed. "Why don't you go! I'm fine, and I'm not going to put a lawsuit on you. It was my fault anyway!"   
  
The guy got in his car and drove off. Rowen glared at the car, then looked at Ryo. "Why did you fall?"   
  
"I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts really bad..." Ryo looked at the others for second, then sighed again "Hey, guys, could you maybe help me OUT of the middle of the road? I don't want to be hit by a car AGAIN!"   
  
Sage immediately helped Ryo to the side of the road; Rowen and Cye followed. "Cye, go get Kento and tell him to bring some bandages and some ice," Sage said, and Cye ran off. Sage turned back to Ryo. "Ryo, do you feel dizzy?"   
  
Ryo glared at him. "OF course I feel dizzy! I was just hit by a CAR! I'm lucky to be AWAKE!!"   
  
Rowen grimaced at Ryo's tone of voice; he was pissed. But he did have the right to be! He was hit by a car. Everyone stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, then Kento came running out with his mother and Cye right behind him. Kento's mom made it to Ryo first.   
  
"Who was the bozo that hit you!? And where is he?" she demanded.   
  
"I told him to leave; he was making things worse than they needed to be." Ryo said and then smiled at her.   
  
Mama Fuan sighed, then turned to Kento. "Help him inside!" she said, then rushed inside herself.   
  
Kento watched her go, then walked to Ryo. "Dude, are you sure you're okay? What were you guys doing, anyway!"   
  
"Racing!" Rowen said, kneeling behind Ryo and helping him up, making sure his weight stayed off his ankle.   
  
"Yeah, well, the next time you four decide to race, at least watch where you're going!" Kento grabbed Ryo by his waist and shoulder, then guided him towards the house. As soon they were in the house, Kento sat him down in the chair.   
  
Mama Fuan came back into the room with some bandages and the ice. She gently took Ryo's shoe off; he flinched a little. As soon as she had the shoe off, it was apparent it was quite swollen. Then she pulled his sock off and was relieved to see that it wasn't bruised. "Well, the good news is that it isn't broken, but it is sprained quite bad. Ryo, I want you to keep some ice on it and keep it elevated. That will reduce the swelling..." Mama Fuan stood up straighter and walked away.   
  
"So... why were you guys racing here anyway?" Kento asked them. Rowen grabbed the bandages and started to clean Ryo's wounds.   
  
"Well, Rowen and I thought maybe we could go camping over spring break; I said I would get Cye, and Rowen went for Ryo. And we decided that we'd have a race to see who could get here first. Cye and I saw Rowen and Ryo across the street, so we tried to beat them; Rowen ran across the street, and Ryo followed, neither of them watching where they were going. If Rowen was a little slower, he would have gotten hit as well." Sage explained.   
  
Ryo looked at Sage, then at Rowen. "We're still going camping, right? I'm fine!"   
  
"Well, spring break isn't for another week; by then he should be able to sort of walk on it! Yeah, I say we should be able to still go camping," Rowen said, looking at his ankle. "Dang, this thing is swollen. Hey, Kento, can you go get me some IBprofen? Ryo's going to need it... badly." Kento got up and walked into the kitchen.   
  
Sage nodded. "Yeah, if you're up to it, Ryo, I guess we can still go camping."   
  
Ryo smiled, then looked at Cye; Cye nodded. "Now we just need Kento to say he can go!"   
  
Kento walked back in the room and tossed Rowen the ibuprofen. "Yeah, I can go camping with you guys. That is, if we make sure we look both ways before we cross the street!"   
  
Ryo laughed a little and nodded. "I don't think THAT will be a problem!"   
  
* * * * *   
  
~A week later~   
  
Sage stood next to his car, tapping his foot. Rowen got out of the passenger seat and looked at Sage. "Is he COMING!"   
  
Kento and Cye both looked out their windows, and Kento looked at the door. "Maybe I should go and get him?" he asked.   
  
Sage put his head in the car window, then honked the horn. "RYO! HURRY UP!!"   
  
"I'M COMING!!" Ryo limped out the door with a duffel bag in his right hand. Sage walked over and took the bag from him; he threw it in the trunk, then waited for Ryo to get into the car.   
  
Ryo was still injured; his ankle was the worst, as his bruises and scrapes had pretty much healed. He just couldn't walk normally. As soon Ryo was in the car, Sage got in, started it up, and drove off.   
  
Rowen pulled out a book and started to read, and Kento and Cye started to mess around. Unfortunately, Ryo was in the middle of them, and Sage had put on his meditation music. Ryo crossed his arms and tried to ignore Kento and Cye, who were punching each other and laughing.   
  
"Hey, Ryo, man, what's wrong with you? You're all stiff and look angry," Kento asked, and held Cye's wrists so he couldn't do anything.   
  
Ryo looked at them. "Nothing... Cye, do you want to switch places, so I can sleep?"   
  
"Sure!" Cye undid his seat belt and after a bit of confusin on grunts they managed to switch places..   
  
Ryo leaned against the seat and closed his eyes; he was almost asleep when Cye's elbow hit him in the stomach. He sat up and glared at Cye and Kento, but they hadn't even noticed; they were still fighting and laughing. Ryo rubbed his neck a little, then tried to sleep again, but soon he was hit, AGAIN, by Cye. He soon gave up any hope of sleeping.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Sage sighed as he pulled into the camping ground. "We're here."   
  
Ryo smiled in relief. "Well, those were the slowest two hours I've ever had!!"   
  
"We're here already? Well, that was fast!" Kento said, and he put Cye into a headlock. Ryo rolled his eyes and quickly got out of the car.   
  
"Come on, our cabin's this way... it's nothing special, it doesn't even have a bathroom; it's more or less one room with a couch in it," Rowen told them.   
  
"Is there a kitchen?" Kento asked.   
  
"No."   
  
"Is there a bed?" Sage asked.   
  
"No."   
  
"Is there any carpet?" Ryo asked.   
  
"No."   
  
"Is there a TV?" Kento asked.   
  
"No."   
  
"Is there a phone?" Sage asked.   
  
"No."   
  
"Are there any books?" Cye asked.   
  
"YES! TONS! Whatever you want to read, we probably have it in there," Rowen said happily.   
  
Sage sighed. "So, let me get this straight, there's no BATHROOM, there's no kitchen, there's no electricity! THERE'S NOT EVEN CARPET ON THE FLOOR!!"   
  
"Yep, that's pretty much it!"   
  
"Okay," Ryo said, shrugging his shoulders; he could easily deal with this. "I'll be sleeping outside."   
  
Cye stared at Ryo. "Why? Why sleep outside when we have a place where we can sleep INSIDE!"   
  
"Inside on some hard floor! HA, I'll take the nice soft grass and dirt, thank you!" Ryo said, smiling.   
  
"All right, and tomorrow we get up at eight o'clock in the morning and go on a NICE long hike," Kento said in an excited voice. "I haven't been out in the wilderness in SO long! And plus, I don't have to look out for any little kids!! No Chan, and NO Chieko, and no brothers!! HEAVEN!!"   
  
Cye laughed at his friend; everyone knew Kento took care of his little brothers and sisters, and that they also knew he would give his life for them in a heartbeat.   
  
"EIGHT IN THE MORNING?!" Rowen exclaimed.   
  
"Come on, Ro, it won't be that bad; it will be kinda fun!! You know, the crisp morning air! The cool breeze, you'll love it!" Ryo said, patting his back. Rowen just growled under his breath.   
  
"So, what are we doing tonight? I mean, it's only three in the afternoon!" Kento asked, looking around.   
  
"Let's go for a quick hike; we'll split up and see who can make a ten-mile hike and make it back here fastest!" Cye suggested.   
  
"Okay, who's with who?" Ryo asked.   
  
"Well, Rowen's the fastest, and Ryo gets lost the easiest... so Ryo and Rowen will go together!!" Sage said happily.   
  
Rowen glared at him. "DO YOU WANT ME TO GET LOST?!"   
  
"Yep," Cye said, and at the same time Kento, "we can only hope!"   
  
Rowen growled, "Geez, I feel loved now!"   
  
"Yeah, me too! And I don't get lost that easy, and even if I do, I can always survive in the woods till I can find my way home!!"   
  
"AND he's slower than a turtle!!! With his ankle the way it is, it will take us THREE days to get ten miles! We'll never make it! It's not fair!!" Rowen pointed over to Ryo's ankle.   
  
"Yeah... he's got a point!" Ryo said, agreeing.   
  
"All right, you guys go five miles, we'll go ten, deal?" Sage asked.   
  
Rowen looked at Ryo. "Can you at least WALK fast?"   
  
"I'll do my best!! No promises, though! If it tightens up, there's nothing I can do!" Ryo told him.   
  
"All right, I guess we'll take that deal! I still say it's not fair, though!" Rowen said, crossing his arms.   
  
"I'm not that SLOW!!" Ryo said in an angry voice.   
  
"YOU ARE TOO!!" Cye told him, laughing. "It takes you twenty minutes to get down the stairs!"   
  
Ryo growled, "Yeah, so!" He then smiled at them. "Are we going to go, or argue on how slow I am?"   
  
Rowen smiled back at Ryo. "All right, let's get going, then!"   
  
"OKAY, GO!" Kento, Sage and Cye ran off.   
  
"You know, we should just leave them out there! And stay here!!" Rowen laughed.   
  
Ryo started laughing as well. "Nah, I say we go out there and beat their BUTTS!" Rowen nodded, and they started a fast walk towards the woods, determined to beat the others!   
  
* * * * *   
  
Ryo and Rowen walked for a about ten minutes; they had to stop once in a while because of Ryo's ankle, but they were still making pretty good time. Ryo suddenly stoppedas he felt a sudden chill go down his back. He looked at Rowen "Ro.. did you feel that?"   
  
"y-yeah... what was it?"   
  
But before Ryo could answer, there was a bright flash; temporaly blinding him, than felt like he was flying for a moment. Ryo suddenly landed with a thump somewhere, and his usrroundings were all different. Ryo quickly stood up, and nearly fell back down again; he swayed for a second, then looked around.   
  
"ROWEN?!" he yelled,   
  
"Ryo!! Ryo, man, where are you?" Rowen yelled back.   
  
Ryo quickly hobbled over to where he heard Rowen. "Rowen?"   
  
"Ryo? Dude, where are you? And why is it SO dark?" he heard Rowen yell.   
  
Ryo looked around; it WASN'T dark. He finally saw Rowen. "Rowen? Are you all right?" he said and started hobbling over to him.   
  
Rowen jerked his head up. "Ryo? Dude, where are you?"   
  
Ryo's eyes widened. "Rowen, I'm RIGHT in front of you!"   
  
Rowen slowly reached his hand out, and it hit Ryo in the face. "Ryo? Why is it so dark?"   
  
"Ro... it's not! Hold still!" Ryo gently held Rowen's face and lifted the eyelids back carefully. "Rowen... I think you might be temporarily blind! Did you look at that flash?"   
  
Rowen nodded. "I'm blind? How do you know it's temporarily?"   
  
"Because they way they're dilated... and it happens a lot when there's bright flashes, you should regain it... soon?" Ryo frowned. "And, hey, if it doesn't come back then Sage can return it... he brought mine back when Sekhmet poisoned me.." He tried to sound like he was sure but he figared it sounded more on hope than anything else.   
  
"Where are we?" Rowen asked and stood up.   
  
"NO CLUE! But I'm more concerned on WHO brought us here! You think the Dynasty's back?" Ryo asked, looking around.   
  
"Oh... man, I hope not! We'd be dead if they are!" Rowen said and took a step forward with his arms out, trying to make sure he didn't hit anything.   
  
Ryo grabbed Rowen's shoulder. "We need to find our way back to camp..."   
  
Rowen laughed. "With me blind, you're hurt and have no sense of direction... we're as good as dead!"   
  
"Hey, just because I get lost easy doesn't mean anything... I've survived in forests for as long as I can remember! So, even if we do get lost, I can keep us alive! And the guys will look for us!"   
  
"Yeah... the problem is, we don't know where we are! We could be in a whole other forest for all we know!" Rowen stumbled to a tree and leaned against it.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Cye, Kento, and Sage had taken a tiny break from running and were now walking back to the campsite. They were all smiling and joking around.   
  
"I bet they haven't even made it halfway yet!" Kento said, laughing.   
  
"I bet they're lost!" Sage shook his head at the thought.   
  
"Come on, you guys, you know they're both faster than us when Ryo's not hurt!" Cye was about to go on when he suddenly yelped and fell to the ground.   
  
"CYE?!" Kento yelled, and at the same time Sage said, "What's wrong?!"   
  
"My leg!!" Cye said, trying to sit up some.   
  
Sage leaned down and saw that Cye had landed his foot in a leg-hold trap. "Cye, hold still." Sage slowly looked the trap over, trying to figure out how to open it. "It's illegal to have these things so close to a campground..." He slowly opened the trap; it was a lot harder than it looked to get that thing open. "Pull your leg out..."   
  
As soon as Cye had his leg out, Sage let it go and the trap immediately slammed shut again.   
  
"Cye, can you walk?" Kento asked, kneeling down next to Cye.   
  
"Not sure, it hurts pretty bad... but I think so..." Cye slowly stood up with Kento's help. Kento supported most of Cye's weight.   
  
"Well, I think we're going to lose that race now!" Kento said, trying to lighten the mood up a little.   
  
* * * * *   
  
"Hey, Ryo... Ryo, where did you go?" Rowen said, trying to find Ryo, but he kept walking into trees or tripping over something.   
  
Ryo leaned against a tree, grinning his head off watching Rowen stumble around for him.   
  
"RYO, man, this ISN'T funny... whe-.." Rowen ran smack into a tree. "Oww..." He started kicking and yelling at the tree.   
  
Ryo couldn't help but laugh a little; he went over and laid a hand on Rowen's shoulder. "Ro... calm down; geez, man, don't take it out on the tree... you walked into it, remember?"   
  
Rowen whirled around. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" he yelled, flinging his arms all over the place. Ryo backed up a little so as not to be hit by Rowen's arms.   
  
"Right here... watching you walk into these poor, poor, trees..." Ryo said, smiling.   
  
Rowen sighed heavily. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"   
  
"I figure we're stuck out here anyway, I might as well enjoy myself... Anyway, there's a stream not too far from here... we can catch some fish there... just don't tell Cye..." Ryo finished, and they both laughed a little. "Put your hand on my shoulder and I'll guide you, okay?"   
  
"Sure..." Rowen started to fling his hand around, trying to find Ryo again; Ryo quickly grabbed his hand and set it on his shoulder. "Here... okay, we'll take it slow, just listen to me for once and we may make it there..."   
  
* * * * *   
  
Kento, Cye and Sage had made it back to camp two days ago; they were looking everywhere for Ryo and Rowen, but there was no sign of them.   
  
"The police have contacted the forest rangers... and we are supposed to sit and wait..." Cye told them and sighed; his leg was elevated with ice on it. It has a bangage wraped all around it this was turning out to be the trip from hell.  
  
"NO way am I just sitting here... they could be hurt..." Kento stood up and paced the room, like he had been doing for most of the day.   
  
Sage sighed; with Ryo hurt they could be in serous trouble, though he knew they could take care of themselves. But now Rowen was going to have to take care of Ryo. And they wouldn't be able to do anything fast. "Kento, will you calm down? We need to keep level heads..."   
  
"LEVEL HEADS?! Sage, they've been gone for TWO days... count them, TWO... and Ryo's hurt... and we don't know what happened to them! They could BOTH be hurt, for all we know..." Kento continued his pacing; he went into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cookies.   
  
"Will you stop eating Kento? It's not going to help anything..." Cye sat up a little more, feeling pretty useless. Kento growled and ate another cookie, then set the box down.   
  
"I'm juwt sawing we need to find fem..." Kento said with a mouthful of cookie.   
  
"Close your mouth when you're eating..." Cye grumbled.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Rowen sat leaning against a tree; Ryo had been right about the flash, and was starting to be able to tell the difference from light and dark. He was worried about Ryo, though; he had been pushing himself too hard on his leg trying to help Rowen. He kept telling him he was okay, but Rowen knew better. He knew from his voice and the way Ryo walked; he could feel him jerk under his hand when they walked. Ryo was in pain and refused to take it easy. All Rowen wanted right now was his sight back. He NEEDED to be able to see.   
  
Ryo lay staring up at the star-filled sky; he could see Rowen leaning against the tree. He figured from the silence that Rowen thought he was asleep, but he couldn't sleep. He had fallen the other day and figured he had re-sprained his ankle, if not broke it, but it hurt bad. He was glad Rowen couldn't see, even though he figured Rowen knew something. He had been asking all the time if he was okay...   
  
  
~Two days later~   
  
"Ryo? Man, is that you or a tree in front of me?" Rowen asked, squinting, trying to figure out the shape.   
  
Ryo looked up. "That's a tree, Ro... I'm behind you..." Rowen turned around and searched for a shape that kinda looked like Ryo. He ended up sitting next to a tree. Ryo sighed, then got up and sat by him.   
  
"So, how's your ankle?"   
  
"It's fine," he lied; the truth was, his ankle seemed to be getting worse instead of better. "So... how's your eyesight?"   
  
"Actually, it's getting much better; I can now see shapes and some colors, but not many. But it's true that when you lose one sense your other four senses get stronger; I hear things now that I never would have noticed before..." Rowen smiled and looked up at the sky and sighed. "So, what's for dinner?"   
  
"I'll go fish..." Ryo pulled out his pocket knife, then undid his shoelace and tied the knife to a nearby stick, creating a spear.   
  
"Let me help, Ryo... I know your ankle's bothering you... and you really should keep your weight off of it..." Rowen frowned.   
  
"Ro, you CAN'T fish like that... you can't see... and with this spear thing you don't stand a chance catching a fish... I can do it, Ro, it's not like I'll be on it for long... and.."   
  
"How hard is the water moving?"   
  
"Rowen, I can do..."   
  
"HOW HARD, RYO?!" Rowen's eyes narrowed, and he growled.   
  
"It's a steady movement... and pretty fast... but I can get my footing and I'll be fine... honest..." Ryo smiled at Rowen, even though he couldn't see it.   
  
"Your footing? With what foot? You need two feet to get a good footing, and you only have ONE!" Rowen crossed his arms.   
  
"Rowen, we don't have much other choice... either this or we starve!" Ryo then stood up and hobbled towards the river.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Sage sighed as he leaned up against the wall of the cabin. There was still no sign of Ryo or Rowen, nothing, not even a footprint. They had the cops and the rangers looking, and no one had found anything. He, Cye and Kento had been looking nonstop for them. Kento kept saying the Dynasty was back and they were captured, and Sage was starting to think he was right.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Ryo tore his shirt into two parts; it was obvious his ankle was broken now. He used his shirt to tie two sticks to his leg, making a splint. He looked over at Rowen, who was still picking at his fish. Ryo had managed to catch two fish, and he was able to start a fire the old-fashioned way (two sticks).   
  
He desperately wished for his armor, and wished he had thought to bring his ord with him. He did think it was a bit odd that neither him nor Rowen brought their armor when they both usually carried it. "Rowen... do you remember where the camp was? Like north, east, what?"   
  
Rowen shook his head. "If I could see I could tell you... but without my sight... I'm lost..."   
  
"Ro, you're really too dependent on your sight..."   
  
"Ryo, I navigate by the stars! And I can't see them to navigate by!" Rowen said in a rather sharp voice.   
  
"YOU didn't even SEE the stars at the campground; we left before it got dark..."   
  
"It doesn't matter, Ryo... I know which way the city is, and I know which direction we went in to GET to camp... it would take me a few moments to figure out which way camp is... it's really not that hard..."   
  
"Of course not... I'm sure you could make a car out of fish guts and rocks, TOO! Couldn't you?" Ryo said sarcastically. "But, of COURSE, you'd need your eyesight for that TOO! But since you don't HAVE your eyesight, it doesn't REALLY help, does it?"   
  
Rowen was a little taken aback by Ryo's tone of voice; he was also a little angry at it. But he remained quiet.   
  
Neither of them realized they were being watched; in the shadows of a tree crouched a white panther. The cat's eyes were focused on Ryo, then would focus on Rowen.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Cye limped into the kitchen and put a pot on the burner, then pulled out a can of soup.   
  
Kento came in, hearing Cye move around. "How's your ankle?"   
  
Cye slammed down the can. "WHERE ARE THEY?! I mean... there should be some sign of them, right?"   
  
"Well... I dunno, Cye." Kento bit his bottom lip a little.   
  
"We have to find them... I know something is wrong... otherwise Rowen would have had both him and Ryo back within a couple of days!"   
  
Kento walked around and gently set a hand on Cye's shoulder. "They're both really strong... they won't give up... they'll come back, I know they will..." Kento smiled at Cye, then looked over his shoulder. "What ya cooking?"   
  
Cye couldn't help but laugh a little. "Is that all you think about, you big oaf?! It's soup! Nothing fancy..." He was glad Kento was here, he cared about all his friends but he had been friends with Kento sence he was old enough to walk and he enjoyed his compainy.  
  
"Soup's great!"   
  
* * * * *   
  
Rowen sat alone leaning against a tree; Ryo had run off shortly after his little outburst, saying he needed to 'think', so now Rowen was alone. And he was thinking, Okay, we've been wandering around for... a long time, and it sounds like Ryo broke his ankle... and I can't see to help... he seems to be having more and more trouble fishing... and I can't help... the guys must be worried about us by now... wonder where they are... I wonder if they're okay... they could have been attacked too...   
  
Man, what if they were? Why did I leave my armor orb? I can't remember what I was thinking for the life of me! ...Ryo can't go on like this for much longer... and my eyesight doesn't seem to want to hurry and return... Rowen sighed heavily, and bit his bottom lip as a thought came to him. What if this is as good as my eyesight will go? What if it never gets better? What if we can't find our way home?   
  
The white panther crouched lower to the ground; its eyes started to glow a dark blue. The dirt around Rowen started to swirl into the air, soon the bigger rocks, then Rowen himself flew into the air.   
  
Rowen tossed around, his eyes wide, not sure if he was in a tornado or not. The panther watched it go, then turned and trotted off.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Sage slowly walked back to the cabin; he was about thirty feet from it when Rowen was suddenly dropped in front of him, with a lot of dirt and rocks. "R-Rowen?!"   
  
Rowen sat straight up. "SAGE?!" He looked around and was able to find a figure with a yellowish bush on the top. "Sage, is that you?!"   
  
"Yeah... can't you see?" Sage said, noticing that Rowen wasn't really looking at him, and his eyes had a glazed look to them.   
  
Rowen looked down. "No... there was a light a while back... it blinded me... but Ryo said..." His eyes widened. "RYO!" He immediately stood up.   
  
Sage quickly grabbed him before he could take off. "Do you know where you guys were?" Rowen shook his head no. "Then it won't do any good to run off... come on, we need to get back to the cabin!" Sage started guiding Rowen back towards the house. "CYE, KENTO! GET OUT HERE!" Sage yelled once in hearing distance of the house.   
  
Both Cye and Kento hurried out of the house and ran to Rowen's side, bombarding him with questions. "ROWEN? ARE YOU OKAY?!"   
  
"WHERE'S RYO?!"   
  
Rowen bit his lip at Cye's last question. "I dunno... where Ryo is... he went off... and I came here somehow..."   
  
"What do you mean, somehow?" Kento asked, watching him.   
  
"Rowen fell from the sky!" Sage said with a slight smile. "And he's blind..." The last comment sent up another huge load of questions from Cye and Kento.   
  
"What?"   
  
"Why?" Cye looked at him sharply. Rowen, however, didn't have a chance to answer as Ryo suddenly landed on him.   
  
"RYO?!" Sage, Cye and Kento all shouted.   
  
Kento immediately hauled him off of Rowen. "Man, are you okay?"   
  
"What happened? Why are you two falling from the sky?" Cye asked.   
  
"I-I dunno... I was heading back to see Rowen... when the next thing I knew I was flying through the air..."   
  
Sage looked down at Ryo's ankle and grimaced. "Come on, man... let's get that cleaned and wrapped and set up..."   
  
"It's going to hurt to set, isn't it?" Ryo said, looking at Sage.   
  
"Ohh, yeah... Kento, you help Ryo in... I'll help Rowen... Cye, can you finish lunch?" Sage asked.   
  
Cye nodded and quickly hurried into the cabin as Kento helped Ryo hobble into the cabin after Cye. And Sage helped Rowen up and into the cabin.   
  
After lunch and after everyone told each other what had happened, they sat just relaxing, wondering how Rowen and Ryo got out there in the first place, how they got back, and if them forgetting their orbs was an accident or if they were set up. Ryo, on the other hand, was outraged about hearing about a poacher trap this close to the campground. But they all did agree on one thing: they were going home tomorrow.   
  
Sage's parents were leaving for a month or two, and agreed to let him and the rest of the guys stay there while they were gone, since he wasn't going.   
  
  
An extremely tall man with black hair stood under a tree watching the Ronins through a cabin window; he growled, "It's not done yet, Ronins," and after he said that he disappeared.   
  
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Okay... I know this leaves a lot unsaid... but hey, it's supposed to! It's kinda like a prologue to "Talpa Has A Sister!" and I hope you enjoyed it! E-mail me! 


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